Making Wooden Arrows April 2019

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Matthias Wiltschko
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arrows . . . ). Each customer/reader is responsible for his/her own
safety and safety in dealing with his/her own manufactured bows and
arrows. It is at the measure of the customer/reader to judge the wood
used by him/her on its resistance to breakage.

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The Arrow Shaft
It makes no difference how efficient your bow is, with bad arrows you will
never be able to consistently shoot well.
The most important variable of a good arrow is the shaft. No matter which
wood you prefer, Port Orford Cedar, Spruce, Northern Pine or Hemlock, the
arrow shafts of one set must have the same properties. That is, the bending
stiffness (spine) and the weight should be as close as possible to each
other in an arrow set.
How do you achieve this? The fastest, best and easiest version: Buy the
shafts spined and weight balanced. Some traders offer their shafts +-1
pound spine and +-0.5 grams shaft weight, which is really accurate. However
I was also able to achieve very good shooting results with +-2.5 pounds
spine and +-1 gram shaft weight.
Although these high-quality shafts sometimes cost twice or three times as
much as the cheap standard shafts, you will not regret the purchase. You
will have fewer misses, fewer arrows break and after a short time, the investment
pays off.
But the most important thing to remember is that in a bad shot with perfectly
matched arrows, you can be sure that YOU have made a mistake.
There are no more excuses like: “The bow does not suit me“ or “I use the
cheap arrows.“
If you are not sure which spine value fits your bow, which can be very different
for selfbows, do the following: Your bow has a draw weight of 40# at
your draw length. Buy twelve weight balanced shafts in the spine value 40#
+-2.5#. Even if the arrows hit a little further to the left or right, your brain is
already figuring out how to change shooting technique to make sure the
arrows land in the center of the target. It makes no sense to make different
arrow sets that only differ by 1# spine. There are many other factors that
affect the flight characteristics and the spine of an arrow. More about this in
the next article, “Shooting Selfbows“.
But before we go straight to making arrows, a few words about storage and
the different wood species.

Storage
If you buy many arrow shafts to put them in stock, tie them tightly in the
middle and at the ends with strong yarn. Store them lying horizontally
in a room where air humidity does not fluctuate. Very important, label
your shafts with wood type, spine value and weight. In no case should
you fix the shafts with rubber bands; these dissolve, then stick to the
wood and you have additional sanding work.

Arrow wood
I had labeled this arrow package with Spruce, but it is clearly Pine.
Only in the Pine species are the light resin vessels in the latewood so
large that they are visible to the naked eye. Below you see two Pine
shafts: on the left sapwood, on the right the darker heartwood. No matter
if sapwood or heartwood, they will fly the same.

Left picture
The left shafts are made of Northern Pine and the right ones are from
Port Orford Cedar. You can clearly see the dark, dense and firm latewood
rings of the Pine shafts.
The Cedar shafts on the right side have a very homogenous structure
and the latewood rings can only be recognized as a wafer-thin layer.
With Port Orford Cedar I always had many broken arrows, so I soon
switched to Northern Pine. It is a bit heavier but more robust.
Wood and Machining Defects
Shafts where the growth rings separate from each other should be
sorted out immediately. This is very rare in the solid latewood of Northern
Pine. With Port Orford Cedar I have not seen this wood defect at

In the case of significant fiber deviations, it can happen that fiber tears
are produced when the shafts are being turned. If these are close to
the end of the shaft, you can still use this end for the arrowhead. Often,
the imperfections also fall away when shortening the arrows.

In the softer Port Orford Cedar, fibrous shaft surfaces sometimes occur.
The greater the fiber deviation from the longitudinal axis of the
shaft, the greater the surface fuzziness. The flames of the growth rings
below indicate a significant fiber deviation.

If the growth rings form an island in the shaft, this also indicates a
fiber deviation. If the rings are particularly narrow, these drawings occur
more frequently and already indicate small and insignificant fiber
deviations. The islands are only dangerous in the case of wide annual
rings and possible ring delamination (see below).

This is what perfect arrow shafts look like. The latewood rings show
you that the grain follows the exact longitudinal axis of the arrow shafts.
THE sign of maximum durability.

Lay the shaft between your thumb and forefinger, aim over its entire
length, roll the shaft with the other hand and see if the front shaft part
is straight or bent. The straight shaft end will receive the nock and the
field point will later be mounted on the crooked end.

Mark the front end with color, so that there will be no confusion. If you
notice a slight curve in the shaft, you can now straighten it by bending
the shaft in the opposite direction. If it breaks now, it should never have
become an arrow anyway.

With 400 grit sandpaper, all protruding wood fibers are removed and
the shaft is perfectly smoothed. With one hand you hold the sandpaper,
but the sanding movement is done with the shaft.

Take a fine cloth and remove the adhering sanding dust. Thereafter, the
rear ends of the shafts are sharpened for gluing the plastic nocks. Attention!
The sharpener has two sides: one for the nock and the sharper
angle for the arrowhead.

If it is imperative that you want to make arrows from shafts of this poor
quality, make sure that the ring flames are pointing forward to the arrow
head. If the arrow breaks in the shot, the sharp fragments fly upwards
and not down into the bow hand.

If the fiber deviations are so strong, this end should become the arrow
head. A broken arrow so far behind can be dangerous for the shooter.
Check your arrows regularly for damages before shooting them.

With alcohol-based wood stain, the entire shaft is colored several times.
Work outside or provide good ventilation in the workshop. I never use
water-based wood stain. Water is a no-go on arrows and bows.

Here are some great adhesives. The Fastset Gel is excellent, and the
small tube is perfect for private use, and so is the Loctite Super Glue. I
had the Bohning Fletch Tite and Saunders NPV Glue in stock for a long
time and even after 10 years, they perform as promised.

Arrow for a right-handed person. The flag of the nock points to the left.
For a left-handed shooter, the flag points to the right. The growth-ringflames
on the upper side of the shaft always point forwards in both
variants. I like to use these speed nocks. Even without looking it can be
determined by the flag, where the index/cock feather is.

STOP! Here the nock has the wrong position on the shaft! When the
arrow is nocked on the string, the growth-ring-flames would lie on the
side. These are clamp nocks that should hold the arrow on the string.

Of course, you can also saw or file the nocks directly into the wood.
First, I saw a slot with the band saw and then work out the notch width
with sandpaper. In the next step, the surface of the shaft is sealed several
times.

For finishing bows and arrows, I prefer to use Danish Oil. It is easy to
apply, dries relatively quickly and provides a nice surface.

Even if Danish Oil does not self-ignite, I seal all oil-soaked rags in a jar.
After repeated oiling I let the shafts dry for a few days in the house. I
use the Cartel Fletching Jig; it fulfills the task with flying colors.

Sunshine and wind help with fast drying the finish.

The more often the fletching clip is used, the more glue accumulates
on it. To remove the adhesive residue, I sand it off on 120 grit sandpaper.
Try to hold the clamp at a 90 degree angle.

First, the cock feather is glued on. The flag of the nock points exactly
to the guide of the clip. For optical reasons, I always choose the index
feather in the color of the nock.

I place the back end of the feather on the second marker line (6mm or
3/8 inches from the end of the clip). Swipe your fingernail over the quill
and press it firmly against the clip.

I always use a lot of glue. There would be nothing more annoying for
me than a feather coming off the shaft. First put the clip on the bevel
and then tilt it onto the magnets.

Slide the clip to the lower stop and then press the quill onto the shaft.
Too much glue? Here I used some old and very viscous Super Glue
Gel. Not a good idea. I will continue with a new tube of Fastset Gel.

The old Super Glue is squeezed out only on one side . . . A sign that the
quill is not properly resting on the shaft.

Safety tip: If you work inside, a small USB fan can blow away the toxic
fumes. In addition, open a window.

Here you can see that the cock feather only touches the shaft with the
outside (left). The gap on the right is filled up with glue.

Adjust the fletching jig carefully and check the position of the quill on
the shaft several times. Mark the correct setting with color.

In the upper picture there is still a small gap between quill and shaft.
Below you can see that the fletching device is perfectly set for the 5/16
shafts. If you later use 11/32 shafts, the jig must be readjusted.

The quill rests on the arrow shaft over its entire length exactly in the
middle. To achieve this, the clip must be adjusted slightly inclined. In
the rear view, the front of the feather lies farther right than the rear end.
This only applies to feathers from the right wing. For left wing feathers,
the front has to be further to the left than the rear end is. In this position
the feather retains its natural curvature, the arrow flies stabler and the
shooting pattern is more consistent.

Here you can see the natural feather curvature. The white lead feather
below was glued completely straight on to the shaft and the quill touches
the wood only on the outside (left). The natural curvature is missing.
If one feather sits differently, the arrow will spin irregularly.

Homemade arrow holder made of maple. Here I let the glue harden.
Now the sharp points of the quills are secured and they should not hurt
your bow hand.

For the winding I take a two piece cubit long crochet yarn in the color of
the nock and cock feather. Simply wrap over the beginning piece.

Make sure that the beginning of the thread does not overlap the quill to
form an elevation. Slightly push the windings together so that they do
not form ugly gaps.

A drop of waterproof wood glue secures the end of the winding. The
glue immediately fixes the yarn.

If the yarn is fixed, another layer of glue is applied immediately to allow
the thread to soak it up. Take care at the bottom for a smooth transition
to the shaft.

I apply up to three layers of glue on the winding. If these are dry, the
field points are mounted.

If the point is difficult to screw on, I heat it very briefly over a flame to
allow the metal to expand. I screw the warm point onto the shaft and as
soon as it is cold, it holds tight.

Years ago, I found one of my arrows in the compost pile. It had been
there for a long time. The stain was pale, the wood was soft, the fletches
had been loose almost on their entire length and started to decompose.
Only the wood-glue-soaked winding was completely intact and
still held the quills in the front.